Where to begin.

Besides thinking about when and where they're going to tee it up, Hawai'i's top local golfers have a lot of other things on their minds — such as making hurried travel arrangements.

Tadd Fujikawa, Hawai'i's latest teen sensation, is already in Japan to try to gain a U.S. Open spot for the second year in a row in the sectional qualifying at the Ohtone Country Club in Ibaraki Prefecture Monday (Sunday, Hawai'i time).

Casey Watabu, the reigning U.S. Amateur Public Links champion from Kaua'i, leaves tomorrow night for his new home base in Mission Viejo, Calif.

Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko are in Scottsdale, Ariz., for the American Junior Golf Association Thunderbird International starting Saturday. It's a junior golf biggie that includes Big Island native Kimberly Kim, who now lives in Arizona.

And there's Michelle Wie, whose long-awaited return to golf after her only appearance of the year in the Sony Open in Hawai'i nearly four months ago starts with the LPGA Tour's Ginn Tribute in South Carolina next Thursday.

It's just the beginning of a long summer of golf for dozens of the state's talented young golfers who are headed outta here, including back-to-back Jennie K. champion Kristina Merkle.

Wie, who will miss her June 2 commencement exercises at Punahou School, appears to have her 2007 schedule all but set up after again accepting a sponsor's invitation to the John Deere Classic, a PGA Tour event.

After the Ginn Tribute, hosted by Annika Sorenstam, Wie will play in the McDonald's LPGA Championship the following week and the U.S. Women's Open two weeks later.

Getting the invite to the John Deere Classic, scheduled for July 12 to 15, sets up a likely slate of four LPGA tournaments in a row following the men's event — the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship, Evian Masters, the Women's British Open and the Canadian Women's Open.

"Likely" because only the exemption to the Canadian event has been officially announced. But who's kidding whom? You don't think HSBC, Evian and Weetabix, which sponsors the British event, would pass up the chance to have Wie in their tournament, do you? Especially the Evian Masters in the French Alps, which Wie calls one of her favorite places in the world.

Wie's first tournament as an 18-year-old and a Stanford freshman will be the Samsung World Championship Oct. 11 to 14 to close out her 2007 season.

Watabu and Kim, the youngest U.S. Women's Amateur champion in history, have booked as busy a summer schedule as Wie. Kim, 15, not only will be defending her title, she also has received exemptions to the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open, besides exemptions to other significant USGA events.

Watabu, who graduated from the University of Nevada, decided to remain an amateur to pursue a spot on the 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team.

It's why the 23-year-old Kapa'a native, who got to play in this year's Masters, decided to move to California. It will make traveling to a full schedule of amateur events a lot easier, he said.

Especially the U.S. Open sectional qualifying at the Bear Creek Golf Club in Murietta, Calif., just an hour's drive from where he's going to establish his new residence.

Besides defending his U.S. Amateur Public Links title in Illinois, July 9 to 14, Watabu is scheduled to play in events in Pennsylvania, Washington State and New York, the Pacific Coast Amateur and the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. All of the events come with the idea of posting high finishes to earn a spot on the 10-member American team for the Walker Cup in Northern Ireland in September.

"That's my goal," said Watabu, who recently won the Hickam Invitational.

First, though, it's qualifying for the U.S. Open at Oakmont, Pa.

Watabu will be one of four local qualifiers trying to advance out of the Murietta sectional now that there's no sectional here. The others are Punahou junior Alex Ching, Maui pro Dugal Milne and Jimmy Kawaihalau, the first alternate when Kaua'i medalist Mark Scheibach withdrew.

A fifth local qualifier, Alvar Wendland, a former UH-Hilo golfer, will go to the sectional at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. Interestingly, it's where Watabu beat Anthony Kim, now on the PGA Tour, in last year's publinx finals.

Watabu thought briefly about going to that sectional before deciding it would be too much of a hassle with his moving.

"I had to fly up and back. (The one in) California's perfect for me. I'm only an hour away."

Of course, it would have been even more ideal if Hawai'i had its own sectional qualifying, Watabu said.

"Too bad we lost it. I definitely would have played in it if we had it," he said.

Also lamenting its loss is Mary Bea Porter-King, who fought to get the U.S. Open men's and women's sectional qualifying here when she was a member of the USGA executive committee.

"Now Tadd has to go to Japan to qualify. I hope he makes it to show we deserve to have one here," she said.

Fujikawa won the sectional qualifying at Po'ipu Bay last year to advance to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, N.Y., becoming the youngest player to compete in golf's national championship.